


Mirrored

by kookykoi



Series: MCU Rare Pair Bingo 2019 [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Angst and Feels, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Rare Pairings, Swearing, mcu rare pairs bingo 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 02:57:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19432492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kookykoi/pseuds/kookykoi
Summary: A late night encounter leads Bucky to realise he has a lot of shared life experience with the newest resident at the Avengers Compound, Ava Starr.





	Mirrored

**Author's Note:**

> My next submission for the MCU Rare Pairs Bingo 2019 with the prompt: mirror.
> 
> I would love for Ava and Bucky to meet in canon but I don't think that'll happen so here's this instead!
> 
> This hasn't been beta'd so all mistakes are my own and I apologise for them.
> 
> Please feel free to leave a kudos and/or a comment if you enjoy the fic.

It took some doing to sneak up on Bucky Barnes. His highly honed senses could pick up the smallest of sounds or changes in environment. This was a gift and a curse: a gift because it meant he rarely got caught out when out in the field on missions and a curse because it meant he couldn’t sleep through the night without being disturbed by some of the most mundane reasons (rain on the window, traffic sounds, the gentle whir of an AC unit).

This was why Bucky was both shocked and impressed when Ava Starr managed to startle him. To be fair, he did have his head deep in the fridge in the communal kitchen of the Avengers compound but he didn’t like using that as an excuse. Ava had put her hand on his shoulder and before either of them really knew what was happening, Bucky had Ava in an arm lock.

“Shit!” Bucky exclaimed, immediately releasing Ava from the lock now he had realised she was a friend, not a foe. “I’m sorry, really sorry. Shit. Are you OK? God damn.”

Ava offered Bucky an apologetic smile, accompanied by a small, apologetic laugh. “No, I’m sorry. I caught you off-guard.” She rubbed the arm Bucky had previously gripped so tightly before shrugging. “I would’ve done the same if, you know, if you had been sneaking up on me.”

“Doesn’t make it any better,” Bucky countered. “You sure you’re OK?”

Ava nodded. “I’m fine.”

Bucky narrowed his eyes briefly at her, determining if she was telling the truth. He decided she was and he relaxed slightly; only slightly though. “You hungry? I was going to make some sandwiches.”

Ava shook her head, causing some of her hair to fall out of her loosely tied ponytail. “No, thank you. But go ahead.” She pulled at the cuffs of her long-sleeved top. “I just- heh- I don’t sleep so I was in the living room and heard you in here and that’s why I came in. I’m not hungry, just-” She left that thought hanging, as if in mid-air, unable to finish it. 

“I get it,” Bucky told her as she searched for the right words to say. “I don’t sleep all that well either.” Their eyes met and for a moment, neither of them had to say anything. 

But then they blinked and looked away from each other. Ava resumed pulling at her cuffs and Bucky resumed making his sandwich. 

He placed the ingredients out of the counter, close to where Ava was sitting, and began assembling the pieces. They didn’t speak while Bucky worked but he was aware of her eyes on him, catching his every move. 

“Do I have something on my face?” He asked, a hint of amusement dancing among his words.

Ava huffed out a brief laugh. “No. Sorry.” Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Ava shaking her head again as she looked down at the floor. “It’s just- I heard a lot about you, back when I was at S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Of course, back when she was at S.H.I.E.L.D. 

When Ava was brought to the compound by Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne in an effort to help her integrate with other people and learn more about her powers, the compound’s current residents had been given a file on her. In it was her history with S.H.I.E.L.D.; how she had been used as a weapon much like he had been used by Hydra. He wouldn’t have been surprised to learn the two of them had met before when they were both serving the supposed greater good.

“Do I live up to the reputation they gave me?” 

Ava’s eyes were on him again and this time he met them with his own. Another moment of something unspoken was occuring between them again as they stared at each other. The moment felt as if drawn out but in reality it was only a couple of seconds. But it took only a couple of seconds for Bucky to realise much of his life was mirrored by Ava’s.

They had both lost everything at the point they were found and taken in by their respective organisation. Both of them were put through inordinate amounts of pain to become the perfect tools. Both of them were lied to to ensure they complied with their orders. Both of them suffered for years until rescue finally came; for him, his rescuer was Steve, for her, Bill Foster. Their rescuers led them to meet those who would help heal them; for him, Princess Shuri, for her, Janet Van Dyne. They then were given a second chance and a new family. 

Did she lie awake at night wondering if she actually deserved her second chance like he did? Were their experiences so mirrored that his actions were reflected in hers even now?

“You’re a lot nicer than I thought you’d be,” she said, a trace of a wry smile on her lips. “Arm locks notwithstanding.”

“I apologised for that,” Bucky said, not bothering to hold back the short laugh that came with his words.

Ava held up her hands as if in surrender. “I know, I know.” She let her hands drop into her lap, her eyes followed them and watched as her fingers fiddled with her cuffs. “Lang said I should talk to you. He said we have a lot in common, what with-” she waved a hand through the air in a vague motion “-everything. Until tonight, I didn’t know how to approach you. It’s not like I could walk up and say ‘oh hey, so we were both assassins and now we’re not, wanna be friends?’.” 

Bucky finished making his sandwich and cut it in half. He picked up one half and took a bite. The other he left on the plate which he was now holding out to Ava. “Eat.” His tone was firm but kind.

Ava eventually took the half sandwich from the plate and took a small bite, a mumbled ‘thanks’ following soon after.

Bucky hopped up to sit on the counter next to Ava. “So you thought sneaking up on me in the middle of the night was a better way?”

Ava rolled her eyes but the corners of her lips dared to lift into a close approximation of a smile.

“You can just talk to me, y’know,” Bucky continued. He took another bite of his sandwich. “I might seem like a grumpy son of a gun, because I am one, but you can talk to me.” He looked over at Ava who was picking at her half of the sandwich. “Or we can sit in silence. I get it. Sometimes the words are too big to be said out loud so you just need someone to be there; someone who gets that sometimes silence is better.”

“How much of it do you remember?” Ava asked, the volume of her voice barely above a whisper. Bucky didn’t need to ask her to clarify the ‘it’ she was referring to. She was talking about his time with Hydra.

“All of it.”

She opened her mouth to say something but she didn’t make a sound, like the words were caught in her throat. Her eyes widened as what looked like panic began to take hold.

Bucky wiped his hand on his pants leg before taking Ava’s hand. She stared as their fingers linked together. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and he didn’t have to say it out loud that he understood. She nodded and went back to nibbling on her half of his sandwich.

They sat there together on the counter, not having to say a word while holding hands. Even when the sandwich had been eaten, they didn’t move or say anything. They didn’t need to fill the silence with useless noise to understand each other.


End file.
